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Thursday, May 16, 2013

Sah'tea

Sahti is an old style Finnish beer traditionally home brewed. It is fermented using baking yeast (as opposed to ale yeast) and juniper berries. It is then filtered through juniper twigs. The end product is a distinctive cloudy brew that is yeasty and has a banana-like flavor profile.

Sah'tea is Dogfish Head's take on this brew. The wort for Sah'tea is caramelized over white-hot river rocks, and the beer is fermented with a German weizen yeast. In addition to juniper berries foraged from the Finnish countryside, Sah'tea is flavored with black chai tea.I haven't met a Dogfish Head beer I haven't liked. Until now. It's not that the beer was bad, because it wasn't. It's just that it wasn't, well, my cup of tea. I don't like chai tea. I guess don't like beer brew with chai tea either. My husband liked it though. He likes chai tea, so there you go! Sah'tea (9.00% ABV) pours a clear pale gold with copious quantities of floaties even with a moderate pour. If you don't like sediment in your beer, then this one will totally turn you off. The head starts off pretty robust then dwindles to a lingering layer of bubbles.The aroma is loaded with spices. It's very reminiscent of chai tea and pumpkin pie. Psst . . . I don't like pumpkin pie either.The taste is much like the aroma. Sah'tea is richly flavorful. It is spicy and grainy. As much as I wanted to like it, I just didn't. The mouthfeel is medium with low carbonation. The alcohol is well concealed flavorwise but it can be felt.Overall it's a good beer. Probably even a great beer. I just didn't enjoy it. But hubby gives it a good rating and that's good enough for me!Kippis!